TVA Officials Still Unsure On Rate Rise

By VICTOR MILLER
Free Press Staff Writer 4.24.97

TULLAHOMA, Tenn. — TVA has not yet made a decision on whether to raise rates this year or when it will complete a cost-of-service study that could lead to a realignment of some rates, Chairman Craven Crowell said here Wednesday.

The three-member TVA board met near here at Motlow State Community College to recognize the 50th anniversary of TVA's association with the Tullahoma Utilities Board.

During a press conference following the board meeting, Mr. Crowell said, "We are not taking any action yet on rates or on cost-of-service. What we've said is there's been no decision made on those items.

"We will undertake our business planning process, which we do every year, this summer to look at our needs for next year. As we make those decisions on what our budget is next year we'll make a decision then on what needs to be done with the cost-of-service study."

TVA has held rates stable for 10 years, meeting a goal previously set by Mr. Crowell, but the chairman has said he is not sure how much further the rate freeze can be extended.

Wednesday's meeting was disrupted when Mr. Crowell refused to let Steve Smith, chairman of the Knoxville-based Tennessee Valley Energy Reform Coalition (TVERC), speak during a public listening session after Dr. Smith failed to register before the meeting's start time, as required under board meeting procedures.

Dr. Smith said he was delayed, claiming he was only "five minutes late."

When Dr. Smith persisted in his request to speak, Mr. Crowell called for a "five-minute recess until we restore order in the room."

Two uniformed security officers approached Dr. Smith in the audience and, after some coaxing, he exited the room. He was not arrested.

After the recess, Mr. Crowell said, "Let me just apologize to everyone for that disruption. We do have certain rules here that we try to abide by because this is a working business board and if we start making exceptions in some cases we're going to have a disrupted process here and that's not conducive to good business practice...

"I regret that we had to take a recess there in order to restore order."

Mr. Crowell later told reporters that he did not believe the incident would contribute to a "chilling effect" on public comments because "I think this particular individual has always been permitted to speak when he's followed the rules, every single occasion, and he's been granted time that was more than the allotted time on numerous occasions, so there's been no effort to keep this particular individual from speaking."

Dr. Smith was able to give reporters a news release outlining TVERC's request that the U.S. Department of Justice investigate Mr. Crowell's proposal that TVA cease receiving federal funding for its non-power programs.

In a letter to Attorney General Janet Reno, Dr. Smith said, "Chairman Crowell's recent decision to reduce the TVA's broad mission ... to nothing more than a power company devoid of ... broader commitments would appear to violate several sections of the TVA Act."

refusal to request an independent counsel to look into campaign finance irregularities alleged against the Clinton White House, TVA also recently requested that her department look into the actions of five Southern power companies that the agency thinks may be violating the TVA Act by conspiring against it.

Asked about that request Wednesday, Mr. Crowell said, "There are five utilities that just happen to pretty much surround us that have obviously formed an alliance and obviously hired Washington companies and I don't know who else to try to attack TVA ...

"I don't know what all the facts are involved in this, but I can certainly say that if you have five utilities banding together to attack you and they are interested in taking your customers in the long term that that does not look good.

"I think we'll have to let the Justice Department determine whether there's anything illegal about that, but I certainly think it looks pretty bad to me for five to band together to form an alliance like that, because these five utilities are in a position to control the market in the Southeast."